Wednesday Wisdom : The Importance of Temperature

Happy Wednesday! I'm currently sitting inside the greenhouse debating if it's better to go buy more cold medication or just wait out the tail end of this sinus cold. I'm not running a fever so I think I'll save myself the drive. The seed starter incubator is working well, it's maintaining the temperature nicely at night which is good because it's still getting down well below freezing at night. In fact it was snowing an hour ago but not settling because it's now plus 2. Inside the greenhouse is +15 even though it's cloudy and windy outside. It's nice.

Our seed starter is a bakery rack that's been framed out and covered with 6mil poly. Inside there's a small portable fan type electric heater set to 400w, a thermostat that controls the heater, a hydrometer and a remote sensing thermometer that lets me monitor the temperature from my bedroom. There is some temperature variation due to air stratification which is why we use a fan heater and put our heat loving seeds such as peppers at the top and cooler veggies at the bottom. 

Here's a selection of the peppers we seeded yesterday. Strawberries in the red pots behind are starting to break dormancy. 

That leads me to your Wednesday Wisdom: Know your Temperatures.

Some seeds like a cooler soil to sprout but several varieties will either rot or sprout and wilt because they're too cool. Here's a list of some of the seeds we grow that require lots of warmth to sprout:

Sweet peppers

Hot peppers

Tomatoes

Melons

Bush and pole beans

Corn, especially the super sweet and sugar enhanced varieties

These can be started indoors or outside once the soil temperature is over 21 degrees. I recommend planting them at the beginning of a warm spell in June or July here in the north. 

Another thing to know is storage temperatures of produce. I know you may be thinking that I'm talking about root cellars but I mean everyday fruits and veggies you probably have right now.

Keep at room temperature:

Bananas

Avocados

Tomatoes

Garlic

Keep cooler but not in fridge:

Onions

Potatoes

Oranges

Apples

Nuts

Refrigerate:

Lettuce

Greens

Carrots

Turnips

Parsnips

Cut fruit and veggies

Homestead Wisdom Wednesday

A new feature of my blog as we enter the busier time of year is going to be Homestead Wisdom Wednesday. I want to share ways to stretch your budget, do things more efficiently, be more environmentally sound and learn easy crafts to help you be more self reliant. We will also show some of Steve's inventions from time to time. It also allows me to write ahead of time so there's always something new to read on Wednesdays, in addition to regular posts. I really hope you find useful ideas and gain inspiration for your own projects. I'm open to sharing your ideas too so send me your comments.

Today's idea is a simple one. Do you own a swiffer or similar sweeper? They're great for essentially dusting hardwood and other solid floor surfaces as well as the tops of cupboards and ceiling fans. If your floors just need a quick dusting or a spill clean up it's hardly worth breaking out the mop and bucket. The disposable cloths that are sold with sweepers are a good money making venture for the companies selling them but you don't have to buy them. You can make your own by either crocheting or knitting cotton covers, or if you have the kind with the rubber cloth holders that you just poke the cloth into, you can sew square cloths from scrap material such as old t-shirts and jeans. Cloths can all be laundered after use and are reusable many times. If you can make a dishcloth, you can make these. You can also use these cloths with a wet type sweeper too, just remember that laminate doesn't like being soaked, damp mop only. 

So the next time you see a forlorn sweeper at a garage sale, think of the possibilities. There are lots of ideas for these on Pinterest. 

To make a crochet or knitted sweeper cloth, measure the length and width of your sweeper and add 4 (or 6 inches if it's long) so you make a very long narrow cloth.  As your crocheting and knitting will vary from mine, just work to make the dimensions you need. Once your cloth is complete, fold either 2 (or 3) inches back on itself and sew along the two long sides to create a pocket. Repeat on the opposite side. Now you have a rectangle with two pockets that fits your sweeper. An alternate method is to make a pad the size of your sweeper, make two smaller rectangles for the top pieces, and sew along the 3 outside edges to create the pockets. It's entirely your preference. 

Having a half dozen or more on hand would be very useful. You could even colour code them for washing, scrubbing, dusting etc. and consider using the coarse scrubby cotton (available at craft stores) to make a pad for very dirty floors like tile entryways and mud rooms. Like all cotton cloths, clean well and store them dry. 

Happy Wednesday!